【Updated 2021.11】Heads up: Citi TYP points can be transferred to AA miles at a 1:1 ratio through November 13. After that, no one knows whether this option will be extended or discontinued. If you know you’ll need AA miles, it may make sense to transfer sooner rather than later. If you don’t currently have a card that allows 1:1 transfers, consider applying for the Premier with an 80,000-point welcome bonus, or product changing to Premier.
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About This Promotion
After a long wait, Citi ThankYou Points can finally transfer to AA miles. However, this is a limited-time feature, running from July 18, 2021 through November 13, 2021. So there is still a decent amount of time.
There are two transfer ratios:
- 1:1 for holders of Citi Chairman, Citi Prestige, and Citi Premier
- 1:0.5 for holders of Citi ThankYou Preferred and Citi Rewards+
My Analysis
Point Value
First, from a valuation perspective, Citi ThankYou Points (TYP) are currently worth about 1.3 cents per point, mainly because its transfer partners are not especially mainstream and can be somewhat inconvenient to use. AA, on the other hand, is one of the big three U.S. airlines, with solid network coverage and capacity. AA miles are worth around 1.5 cents per point, and can be excellent for booking business class between the U.S. and China, business class between the U.S. and Europe, and even some domestic U.S. routes. Overall, if you expect to use AA miles soon, transferring is very likely a good deal.
So should you go all in under this offer? Looking at the expiration date, the transfer window runs through November, which is actually fairly long. AA and Citi already have co-branded cards, so opening up transfers is not surprising (think Chase and UA, or AMEX and Delta). Also, AA miles are currently one of the few major airline currencies that cannot normally be transferred directly from bank points at 1:1. One relatively decent alternative has been transferring Marriott points to AA miles at 3:1.25. So in my view, this is clearly a trial run between Citi and AA. If Citi can acquire miles for under 1 cent each and let users cash out their TYP at a lower cost, Citi likely comes out ahead. For AA, if this helps fill more AA flights during the pandemic, that is also a win. Personally, I’m fairly optimistic that this could become a permanent transfer option. That would mean the three major airlines would line up with the three major points ecosystems, and that three-way balance is already taking shape. Hopefully we’ll see more promotions in the future.
Credit Cards
From a credit card perspective, Citi Prestige has already been discontinued, and Citi Chairman has been unavailable since ancient times. That leaves Premier as the only remaining card that can transfer at 1:1, so this card may really get its moment to shine. It currently has a record-high 80,000-point offer. Although it has a $95 annual fee, it also offers a $100 hotel benefit, so it is still pretty compelling. If you have a large TYP balance, I strongly recommend getting one, because 1:1 transfers to AA miles are really attractive.
Citi Strata Premier Credit Card
One of the best all-around credit cards for both everyday spending and travel. Plus, get a $100 annual hotel benefit.
- Welcome bonus: 60,000 ThankYou Points (Spend $4,000 in three months)
- Rewards: 10x on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel; 3x at supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, on airfare, hotels, and EV charging; 1x on all other purchases
- Redemption: Points can be transferred 1:1 to airline and hotel loyalty programs, or redeemed for cash back
- Annual fee: $95
- Apply now>>
In addition, Citi Rewards+ also has some value here. TYP redemptions get a 10% rebate, capped at 10,000 per year. So if you have both Premier and Rewards+, you can effectively transfer to AA miles at 1:1.1.
No annual fee! Best paired with other Citi TYP credit cards
- Welcome bonus: No longer available to apply for, but you can product change.
- Rewards: 2x points at supermarkets and gas stations (on the first $6000 in purchases); 1x points on all other purchases. Earn at least 10 points per transaction.
- Redemption: If you also hold a premium card, points can be transferred 1:1 to airline miles or hotel points; get 10% points back on redemptions
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
Risk Warning
If you are thinking about going all in on AA miles, or trying to cash out through AA miles directly, be especially careful: AA has shut down a wave of accounts before. The main reason was heavy churning of AA credit cards to generate large amounts of AA miles, causing substantial losses for both AA and Citi. At the time, Citi did not really take major action against cards or accounts, but AA shut down a large number of accounts.
In addition, AA reportedly has a well-known internal investigator named Linda who focuses on people selling award tickets. If you plan to transfer or sell miles to ticket brokers, or to people you do not know, be very careful about sting operations, especially with people you meet on forums. Also, it is best not to issue too many tickets in a short period of time.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I was quite surprised to see this transfer option open up. After all, just a few days earlier, news came out that the premium Citi Prestige card would be discontinued, which also suggests Citi may step back from competing in the premium card space in the short term. Meanwhile, the newly launched Citi Custom Cash is clearly aimed at the mass market and offers excellent value. If Citi can work things out with AA, it would significantly strengthen Citi’s position in the transferable points space and encourage more people to keep Citi TYP cards long term. Rumors about Citi and AA enabling point transfers have been floating around for years without success. Previously, the workaround was redeeming points for AA flights at a fixed value of 1.5c/p. Now, mileage transfers have finally become reality. As a longtime credit card enthusiast, I’m genuinely pleased to see it happen.